101 Fantasy Football Fun Facts From the 2021 NFL Season

A look back on the 2021 fantasy football season through the prism of notable stats, facts and more.

The theme song to the television show The Golden Girls was going to be Bette Midler’s song “Friends,” rather than the iconic “Thank You For Being a Friend” by Andrew Gold.

There's just one letter in the alphabet that doesn't appear in any U.S. state's name.

The weight of a hummingbird is less than a penny.

Donald Duck comics were banned in Finland because he doesn't wear pants.

The New York Yankees have won a combined 27 World Series championships. No other team in Major League Baseball has won more than 11 (St. Louis Cardinals).

A wood frog can hold its pee for up to eight months.

The M’s in M&Ms stand for Forrest “Mars” and Bruce “Murrie,” who created the candy-coated chocolates. The two men reportedly didn’t like each other much.

Superman wasn’t capable of flying in comic books until the 1940s.

Those are a few interesting facts you might not know.

Now for something you might find even more interesting: Here are your 101 Fantasy Football Facts from what was a challenging 2021 NFL season.

Josh Allen celebrates one of his two rushing touchdowns in a 29-15 win over Atlanta.
Jamie Germano/USA TODAY NETWORK

Quarterbacks

1. Josh Allen finished as the No. 1 quarterback in fantasy football this season, scoring 402.6 fantasy points. That’s 6.5 points more than he scored last season when he was also the best player at the position (396.1 fantasy points). Allen has now recorded the fourth- and sixth-best seasons in fantasy football history among quarterbacks.

2. The lone quarterbacks to score more fantasy points in a single season than Allen in 2021 are Patrick Mahomes (417.1) in '18, Lamar Jackson (415.7) in '19 and Peyton Manning (409.9) in '13. Of course, they played in 16-game seasons, not 17 games.

3. Justin Herbert finished second in fantasy points among quarterbacks with 380.8. He has now scored a combined 713.6 fantasy points in his first two seasons in the NFL.

4. Herbert's 713.6 points are the most in NFL history among quarterbacks in their first two seasons. He surpassed Cam Newton, who scored 693.8 points in his first two years.

5. Tom Brady threw for a league-high 5,316 yards and 43 touchdowns and finished third in fantasy points among quarterbacks. His 374.7 points shattered his previous record of 337.9 fantasy points, which was set last season for a player at 40 years old or older.

6. Brady now holds the top five highest fantasy point totals in NFL history for a player who is at least 40 years old. The other players in the top 10 in the category are Drew Brees (2019, '20), Brett Favre ('09), Warren Moon (1997) and Jerry Rice (2002).

7. Aaron Rodgers finished fifth in fantasy points among quarterbacks, throwing for 4,115 yards with 37 touchdowns and four interceptions. He has thrown just 15 interceptions in the last four seasons, covering a combined 2,223 pass attempts.

8. Five different quarterbacks threw for 15 or more interceptions this season alone.

9. Joe Burrow finished his second NFL season with the Bengals ranked eighth in fantasy points among quarterbacks, throwing for 4,611 yards with 36 total touchdowns.

10. Burrow was a true league winner for fantasy fans, throwing for 1,128 yards with nine touchdowns while averaging 28.6 fantasy points in the fantasy postseason. That ranks eighth all-time among quarterbacks in the fantasy football playoffs.

11. Kyler Murray finished 10th in fantasy points among quarterbacks, recording 300.5 points in 14 games. That was down more than 78 points from his 2020 campaign. His rushing totals took a serious tumble, falling a total of 396 yards and six touchdowns.

12. Murray wasn’t the lone mobile quarterback to see his numbers fall. Lamar Jackson averaged 20 fantasy points, his lowest total in the last three years. However, he did miss five games with an injured ankle and was on pace to rush for well over 1,000 yards. It would have been his third straight season with 1,000-plus yards on the ground.

13. The other quarterback to rush for 1,000-plus yards in a single season is Mike Vick, and he did so as a member of the Atlanta Falcons—and he did it one time (2006)

14. Jackson has rushed for 3,673 yards in his 58 career regular-season games as a member of the Ravens. That ranks fifth all-time among quarterbacks behind only Cam Newton (5,036 yards), Russell Wilson (4,689), Randall Cunningham (4,482) and Vick (3,859). All four of those players have played in at least 74 regular-season games in their career, with Newton, Wilson and Cunningham all playing in at least 122 games.

15. Matthew Stafford finished sixth in fantasy points among quarterbacks, throwing for 4,886 yards and 41 touchdowns in his first season with the Rams. He did throw for more yards (5,038) as a member of the Lions in 2011, but his 41 touchdown passes tied his previous career-high also set in '11. His 19.4 fantasy points per game average was the second-best in his career (minimum 12 games). He averaged 21.5 points in '11.

16. Jalen Hurts scored 20-plus fantasy points in each of his first seven games of the season as the starting quarterback for the Eagles. He averaged 24.4 fantasy points a game during that time, which was the second-most in the league behind Tom Brady.

17. Over his final eight games, Hurts scored 20-plus fantasy points just twice and was held to fewer than 17 points five times. Overall, he averaged 17.7 fantasy points and ranked 14th at the position, behind both Ben Roethlisberger and Jimmy Garoppolo.

18. Russell Wilson played in a career-low 14 games this past season, throwing for 25 touchdowns while averaging 17.3 points. It was his lowest total since 2016 and only the second time in the last five years where he didn’t average more than 20 points.

19. Sam Darnold was the fifth-best quarterback in fantasy football after the first four weeks of the regular season, scoring 10 total touchdowns (five rushing) and averaging nearly 24 fantasy points in that span. The lone field generals who had more points than him at that point were Patrick Mahomes, Kyler Murray, Jalen Hurts and Tom Brady.

20. Darnold’s numbers took a nosedive the rest of the season, however, as he saw his points-per-game average fall to 7.8 points in the eight contests he played. He threw 10 interceptions, lost three fumbles and didn’t rush for a single touchdown. What’s more, 35 quarterbacks scored more fantasy points than Darnold during that eight-game span.

21. The 2021 NFL Draft class included several quarterbacks who brought promise as potential fantasy options, including Trevor Lawrence, Trey Lance and Justin Fields. Unfortunately, none of the three were able to make a consistent impact. The trio was led by Lawrence’s modest 199 fantasy points. He had 12 touchdowns and threw 17 interceptions, and Lawrence was held without a touchdown pass in eight contests.

22. Mac Jones was the top rookie quarterback, throwing for 3,801 yards with 22 scoring strikes. Of course, that was only good to finish 18th in fantasy points at the position.

23. Jones averaged a modest 13.2 fantasy points this past season. That ranks just 17th among rookie quarterbacks since 2000 (minimum 12 games). His 22 touchdown passes were good enough to rank him in a tie for seventh with Jameis Winston in that time.

24. Taysom Hill once again looked good in limited time as a starting quarterback for the Saints, scoring 17-plus fantasy points three times with two 20-point performances. He also looked good in limited time as the starter the previous season, scoring 17-plus points in four games, including two with more than 23 points. The Saints could also lose Winston as a free agent. If Hill opens 2022 as the top quarterback for Sean Payton in New Orleans, he could emerge into a regular top-12 fantasy option at the position.

25. Tua Tagovailoa was widely considered a sleeper heading into his second season, but he did nothing but hibernate in the stat sheets. After scoring a combined 47.9 points against the Jaguars and Falcons (Weeks 7-8), Tua failed to score more than 17.1 points in any game the rest of the season. That includes six with fewer than 15.2 points.

Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor (28) celebrates after a fourth quarter touchdown Sunday, Nov. 28, 2021, during a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Running Backs

26. Christian McCaffrey was the consensus No. 1 overall pick this past season, but he once again missed time due to injuries. He played in just seven games and has now missed all but 10 games in the past two seasons. Unfortunately, McCaffrey wasn’t the lone first-round running back to leave fantasy managers high and dry in their leagues.

27. Based on NFFC data, McCaffrey, Dalvin Cook, Alvin Kamara, Derrick Henry and Ezekiel Elliott were the first five running backs selected in drafts. McCaffrey and Henry both missed more than half the season due to injuries (19 games missed combined), while Cook, Kamara and Elliott all saw their fantasy totals fall compared to the previous campaigns. We’ll discuss the statistical downfall of that trio later in this column.

28. Jonathan Taylor emerged as the best running back in fantasy football this season. He scored 20-plus fantasy points nine times, including one game where he put up 53.4 points. Taylor led the league with 1,811 rushing yards, which 552 yards more than Nick Chubb, the second-best runner who finished with 1,259 rushing yards.

29. Taylor also led all running backs in scrimmage yards with 2,171. He was the lone back in the league to produce 2,000-plus total yards. Rookie Najee Harris finished in the No. 2 spot with scrimmage 1,667 yards, which is 504 fewer than Taylor’s total.

30. Taylor’s 20 total touchdowns tied Austin Ekeler for the league lead among running backs. Taylor, however, finished with that total in one more game as Ekeler missed a contest due to COVID-19. Taylor did lead the position in red-zone looks with 87. The back with the next highest total was Ekeler, and he had 25 fewer looks than Taylor.

31. Taylor’s 941 yards after contact led all running backs and accounted for more than half of his total yards on the ground. He also led the position in rushes of 10-plus yards and was tied for the fourth-most broken tackles, a category that was led by Harris (47).

32. Harris was far and away the best rookie running back in fantasy football, scoring 300.7 points. He led the position with 381 touches, ranked fourth in rushing yards, second in scrimmage yards and tied for eighth in total touchdowns. Harris also didn’t fumble the ball even once despite having such a massive workload as a rookie.

33. Harris’ 300.7 fantasy points is the 12th most among first-year running backs in NFL history. It's also the most a rookie back has had since 2018, when Saquon Barkley scored 385.8 points. His 381 total touches also rank sixth among rookie running backs.

34. Harris saw 83.4% of the Steelers' offense snaps. Taylor ranked second in that department, seeing 69% of the offensive snaps in Indianapolis. Harris' 972 snaps are 173 more than the back with the second-most this season, Ezekiel Elliott (799 snaps).

35. Elliott finished seventh in fantasy points among running backs. He has now finished among the top nine runners based on points in four straight seasons and in all but one of his NFL campaigns. The lone season he didn't rank in the top nine was 2017 when he was suspended and missed six games. Zeke still finished 12th that season.

36. Elliott ranked seventh in fantasy points among backs in his first eight games, scoring an average of 17.2 points. Zeke rushed for 720 yards in those games, scored nine touchdowns, and averaged 18 touches (33.1 percent touch share) in the Big D backfield.

37. In his final six games of the season, Elliott ranked 22nd in fantasy points among all backs, scoring an average of 10.5 points. He rushed for 282 yards, scored just three touchdowns and averaged 14.3 touches and a 27% touch share for the Cowboys.

38. In 2020, Alvin Kamara was the top running back in fantasy land with 21 total scores and 377.8 points. However, his numbers declined this past season drastically as he had just nine touchdowns and scored 234.7 fantasy points (or 7.1 fewer points a game).

39. Kamara also finished with 67 targets and 47 catches. Those were both career lows. In fact, Kamara had never had fewer than 97 targets or 81 catches in his previous four seasons with the Saints. This was also his first season playing without Drew Brees.

40. Dalvin Cook, the consensus No. 2 overall pick in drafts, finished a disappointing 16th in fantasy points among running backs. It was his worst finish in a season that saw him play in at least 13 games. He was also widely unreliable, scoring 14.3 or fewer points in six games, including in each of his final three games (8.2 points per game).

41. Derrick Henry rushed for 937 yards and 10 touchdowns in eight games before he went down with an injured foot. Had he been able to finish out the season, he might have been the first back in the league's history to rush for 2,000 yards in back-to-back seasons (his eight-game projection had him on pace for 1,991 rushing yards).

42. Although he missed more than half of the season with a bum foot, Henry still finished 22nd in fantasy points among running backs (PPR). He had more points than James Robinson and Saquon Barkley, who both played at least 13 games.

43. According to the National Fantasy Football Championships average draft position data, Cordarrelle Patterson was picked at No. 282.6 overall (so widely undrafted) in 2021. Among wide receivers, Patterson was picked after the likes of Chris Hogan, Golden Tate, Josh Gordon, Gunner Olszewski, Frank Darby and KhaDarel Hodge.

44. Patterson finished ninth among running backs and 22nd among wideouts, producing career highs across the board, including 1,166 scrimmage yards and 11 total touchdowns. Overall, he averaged a near 27% touch share for the Falcons.

45. In his first 10 games, Patterson ranked sixth among running backs in points per game (18.6) while playing 42.4 percent of the Falcons' offensive snaps. He was also targeted 52 times in those 10 games, which ranked seventh among backs in that time.

46. Patterson’s stock took a serious tumble in his final six games, however, as he was tied for 18th in fantasy points among backs. What’s more, his points-per-game average dropped more than eight points to 8.1, and his targets sank to just 2.8 per contest. He played a slightly greater percentage of the team's offensive snaps (50.1), but the team didn’t call his number nearly as much. Patterson is slated to be a free agent.

47. Four running backs caught 60-plus footballs this past season, including Harris (74), Austin Ekeler (70), Leonard Fournette (69) and D’Andre Swift (62). It’s the first time since 2013 where at least one running back hasn’t caught at least 80 passes in a single season, and many players saw an extra game’s action with the new 17-game schedule.

48. Myles Gaskin finished 10th in fantasy points among running backs in odd-numbered weeks, averaging 13.5 points. He was also tied for fourth in receptions (33), and five of his seven total touchdowns came in odd-numbered weeks.

49. Gaskin was significantly worse in even-numbered weeks, finishing as the RB48. He averaged 6.5 fantasy points per game and was tied for 29th in catches during these weeks. The odd trend made Gaskin one of the more predictable players of 2021.

50. Devin Singletary was almost non-existent in fantasy leagues in his first eight regular-season games. The veteran ranked 39th in fantasy points among running backs, averaging fewer than 12 touches and a meager 8.8 points per game in that stretch.

51. Singletary was far more effective in his final nine games, however, ranking eighth in points among running backs while averaging around 15 touches per game. He put up an average of 14.1 fantasy points a game, and his touch share rose from 22% to 30%.

52. If that weren’t enough to move Singletary up in your 2022 player rankings, consider this: Over the final four weeks (including the fantasy postseason), the Bills back finished second in points at the position and averaged a 35 percent touch share. His 19.7 fantasy points per contest were fifth in that time among running backs.

53. The lone running back with more points than Singletary in the final four weeks of the season wasn’t Jonathan Taylor, Austin Ekeler or Joe Mixon. It was Rashaad Penny. The former first-round pick out of San Diego State looked the part at the pro level, rushing for 671 yards with six total touchdowns while averaging 22 points a game.

54. If you project those points over a full 17-game schedule, Penny would have finished with 468.4 points—95.3 more than Taylor. I know that’s a crazy stat that wouldn’t likely happen, but it shows just how good Penny was for fantasy fans in the playoffs.

55. The five teams with the most fantasy points from the running back position this past season were the Colts, Patriots, Browns, Chargers and Cowboys. Of interest for those folks in PPR formats, the Raiders, Lions, Buccaneers, Falcons and Panthers finished in the top five in terms of running back receptions. The Raiders had 118 catches from their backs and had more than double what the Rams had (53 catches).

Rams receiver Cooper Kupp.
Gary A. Vasquez/USA TODAY Sports

Wide Receivers

56. Cooper Kupp is coming off the greatest fantasy football season of all time among wide receivers, scoring 439.5 points. That passed the previous record set by Jerry Rice in 1995 when he scored 414.04 points. However, Rice did play one less game, and his 25.88 points per game average is still slightly higher than Kupp’s 25.85 fantasy points.

57. Kupp and Rice are the lone wideouts in NFL history to record 400-plus PPR points in a single season. In his following season, Rice experienced a decline of 594 receiving yards, seven touchdown catches and 118.9 fantasy points (7.5 points per game).

58. Kupp scored 20-plus fantasy points 14 times, including six games where he posted 30-plus points. He also had 100-plus yards in 11 games, but his 1,947 receiving yards still fell 17 yards short of the NFL record 1,964 yards set by Calvin Johnson in 2012.

59. Matthew Stafford was the quarterback for both Johnson as a member of the Detroit Lions and Kupp with the Los Angeles Rams during their respective historic seasons.

60. Davante Adams finished the season with 123 catches, 1,553 yards, 11 touchdowns and 344.3 fantasy points. He averaged 21.5 points per game, which is the second straight season he’s posted 20-plus points a game and the third in his last four seasons.

61. Justin Jefferson was even better in his sophomore season in the NFL, posting highs in catches, yards, touchdowns and fantasy points. He has now recorded a combined 604.6 points in his first two seasons, ranking second all-time among wideouts in their first two years in the league behind another LSU wideout, Odell Beckham Jr.

62. Jefferson might be second in fantasy points among wideouts all-time in his first two years in the league, but he tied Michael Thomas for the most catches (196) and set a record with 3,016 receiving yards. That eclipsed OBJ’s previous mark of 2,755 yards.

63. Ja’Marr Chase finished fourth in fantasy points among wide receivers, posting 81 catches for 1,455 yards and 13 touchdowns. His 1,455 yards set a new rookie record at the position, surpassing the 1,400 yards Jefferson recorded in his first season (2020).

64. Chase’s 304.6 fantasy points finished just 0.10 points behind Randy Moss’ rookie record of 304.7 points, set in 1998. Chase did have more catches and yards than Moss, but he scored four fewer touchdowns. Chase’s 13 touchdown catches tied Jefferson for the second-most all-time in a single season among all rookie wide receivers.

65. Chase led all wide receivers with five touchdown catches of 50-plus yards. That tied Moss’ record of five (1998) all-time among rookie wideouts. A.J. Brown had four scores of 50-plus yards as a rookie in 2019, but no other first-year player has more than three.

66. Beckham failed to score a single touchdown and averaged 6.9 fantasy points in the six games he played for the Cleveland Browns this past season. He ranked 85th in total points and 82nd in points per game among wide receivers during that time.

67. In OBJ's seven regular-season games with the Rams, where he played at least 50 percent of the snaps, he scored five touchdowns and averaged 12 points per game. He ranked 26th in total points and 31st in points per game average during that time.

68. The 2021 season saw three rookie wide receivers finish among the top 15 all-time in fantasy points. Chase finished second, Jaylen Waddle finished seventh, and Amon-Ra St. Brown finished 14th. It’s the first time three rookie wideouts have ever ranked in the top 15 in points at the position in the same season. Beckham Jr. (third), Mike Evans (eighth) and Kelvin Benjamin (16th) came close to that mark in the '14 campaign.

69. In his first 11 games, St. Brown ranked 62nd in points among wideouts while averaging 4.7 targets, 3.5 catches and 32 receiving yards with no touchdowns.

70. In his final six games, St. Brown ranked second in fantasy points among wideouts while averaging 11.2 targets, 8.5 catches and 93.3 receiving yards with five scores. The lone receiver with more fantasy points during this six-game stretch was Cooper Kupp.

71. Deebo Samuel enjoyed a breakout season, finishing third in fantasy points among wideouts with 77 catches, 1,405 receiving yards and 14 total touchdowns. His 1,405 yards through the air is the ninth-most in the history of the 49ers franchise. He trails only Jerry Rice (1986, '89, '90, '93–'95) and Terrell Owens (2000, '01).

72. Samuel also led all wide receivers with 365 rushing yards. That ranks 15th all-time at the position, but it’s the fifth most in a single year among wide receivers since 2000.

73. Samuel proved to be an absolute nightmare to tackle once again, leading all wide receivers with 22 broken tackles and 291 yards after contact. During the season, no other wideout had more than 12 broken tackles (CeeDee Lamb).

74. Hunter Renfrow had a breakout season in 2021, posting 103 catches, 1,038 yards, nine touchdowns and the 10th-most fantasy points among wide receivers. He is just the 11th wideout in Raiders franchise history with 1,000-plus yards in a single season.

75. Renfrow averaged seven catches, 70.8 receiving yards and scored three times in six games when Darren Waller was inactive. He averaged 5.5 catches, 55.7 receiving yards and scored six touchdowns through the air in 11 games with Waller in the lineup.

76. Mike Williams started the season on absolute fire in the stat sheets, scoring a combined 116.1 fantasy points (23.2 PPG) in his first five games. During that time, he ranked second in points among wideouts. Williams averaged a mere 9.8 points in his next nine games and was the No. 37 receiver based on fantasy football production.

77. Williams finished the season ranked 12th in points among wideouts, but he failed to record more than 12.1 points in seven of his final 10 games of the fantasy season.

78. D.J. Moore finished 18th in fantasy points among wide receivers, recording 1,157 receiving yards and four touchdowns. He has finished with between 1,157-1,193 yards and four touchdowns in each of his last three seasons. Now that’s consistent!

79. Allen Robinson’s average draft position on NFFC for September was 31.1, putting him 12th among wide receivers. He finished tied for 81st at the position. No other wideout drafted in the top 12 at the position who played in at least 13 games finished worse than 32nd in points. That was A.J. Brown, who missed four contests.

80. Robinson had finished no worse than ninth in points at the position in his previous two seasons. His 2021 target, catch, yards and touchdown totals were all career lows in seasons when he played in at least 10 games. Robinson is slated to be a free agent.

81. Robinson lost his role as Chicago’s No. 1 wide receiver to Darnell Mooney. While he ranked a mere 43rd in fantasy points at the position in his first eight games, he was far more productive in the second half. Mooney ranked 13th in points among wide receivers in his final nine games. He scored more points than Mike Evans, Tyreek Hill, CeeDee Lamb and D.K. Metcalf (among many others) during that stretch of contests.

82. Brandin Cooks set a career-high with 134 targets and 90 catches in his eighth NFL season. He also produced 1,000-plus yards for the sixth time in his last seven seasons.

83. Julio Jones’ average draft position on NFFC for the month of September was 47.8, putting him 19th among wide receivers. He finished 92nd at the position, averaging 8.04 fantasy points in 10 games. Jones has now seen his points per game average decline in four straight seasons, and he’s missed 14 games the last two seasons.

84. A total of 19 wide receivers finished with at least 900 offensive snaps this past season. The lone players who didn't average double-digit fantasy points among those 19 players were Courtland Sutton (8.8 PPG) and Robby Anderson (8.2 PPG).

85. In his first seven games (Weeks 1-11), Russell Gage scored a combined 48 fantasy points and averaged 9.6 points per game (WR90). Over his final seven games (Weeks 12-18), Gage scored 115.2 fantasy points and ranked 10th among all wide receivers.

Baltimore Ravens tight end Mark Andrews (89) catches a touchdown pass as Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Germaine Pratt (57) defends in the third quarter during a Week 16 NFL game, Sunday, Dec. 26, 2021, at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati. The Cincinnati Bengals defeated the Baltimore Ravens, 41-21.

Baltimore Ravens At Cincinnati Bengals Dec 26

Tight Ends

86. Travis Kelce failed to finish as the top tight end in fantasy football for the first time in the last six seasons. He wasn't that far off, ranking second in points at the position while averaging 16.5 points per game. That was 4.4 fewer points per game than he averaged during what was his best season in the pros when he averaged 20.6 in 2020.

87. Kelce finished with 1,125 yards, making it six straight seasons that he’s gone over the 1,000-yard mark. He’s now moved into fourth among tight ends in all-time receiving yards with 9,006. Kelce needs 3,972 yards to pass Jason Witten for the most receiving yards in NFL history among tight ends. He’ll turn 33 in October.

88. The top fantasy tight end this past season was Mark Andrews, who posted career highs en route to his 301.1 points. That’s the fourth-most points a tight end has scored in a single season in NFL history behind Rob Gronkowski ('11), Kelce ('20) and Jimmy Graham ('13). His 1,361 yards are third-most all-time at the position.

89. Andrews had a four-game stretch, including the fantasy postseason, with 105.5 fantasy points. No tight end in the NFL had more than 60.2 points in that stretch.

90. Dalton Schultz was drafted on average as the 31st tight end based on NFFC ADP data from December, behind the likes of Chris Herndon, Hayden Hurst and Eric Ebron. He finished third in points at the position, averaging 12.3 points per game.

91. George Kittle finished fourth in points among tight ends, averaging 14.1 points in his 14 games. He has now averaged 14-plus fantasy points in four straight seasons, and his six touchdowns were good enough to set a new career-high. He did this even though he scored a combined 14.6 fantasy points in his final three contests of 2021.

92. Darren Waller saw a marked decrease in statistics compared to his 2020 totals, as he missed six games and found the end zone just twice. He also averaged 12.1 points per game, a five-point decline based on the previous season (17.4 PPG).

93. Kyle Pitts finished his rookie season with 68 catches, 1,026 yards and 176.6 fantasy points. The catches and points were both third-most all-time among rookie tight ends, and the yards broke the previous record of 894 set by Jeremy Shockey back in 2022.

94. Pitts fell 23.4 points short of 200 on the season. Keith Jackson, the lone rookie tight end to hit the 200-point mark in NFL history, did it for the Eagles in 1988.

95. Despite Pitts’ numbers compared to past rookie tight ends, his 2021 season was not considered a massive success in fantasy land. He scored just one touchdown and failed to score more than nine points in nine of his 17 games. He also scored more than 12.3 points just four times, and Pitts was also held to four or fewer catches in 12 contests.

96. Pitts received much of the attention in fantasy land, but fellow rookie tight end Pat Freiermuth was also impressive during his first NFL season. He finished 12th in points among tight ends, averaging 9.5 points per game. His 151.7 points rank ninth among rookie tight ends all-time, just 2.9 points behind Rob Gronkowski’s 154.6 rookie points.

97. Gronkowski finished sixth in fantasy points among tight ends, posting 802 yards with six touchdowns. He missed five games, but the future Hall of Famer averaged 14.3 points in his 12 contests. That’s the most points he’s averaged in a season since 2017.

98. Gronkowski’s six touchdowns now give him 92 regular-season scores in his career.

He needs 25 more touchdowns to break the NFL record among tight ends of 116, which Antonio Gates holds. Gronkowski has played in 93 fewer contests than Gates.

99. In his first six games, all with the Eagles, Zach Ertz averaged just 5.2 targets, three catches and 8.2 fantasy points. In his final 11 games after being traded to the Cardinals, Ertz averaged 7.4 targets, 5.1 catches and 12 fantasy points. During that time, just three other tight ends scored more fantasy points than Ertz: Andrews, Kittle and Kelce.

100. In his first five games of the season, Dallas Goedert averaged just 3.8 targets, three catches and 9.7 fantasy points. He played in those games with Ertz. After he was sent to the Cardinals, Goedert averaged almost six targets, 4.1 catches and 11.6 points.

101. Cole Kmet finished tied for eighth in targets (93) among tight ends this season. He’s one of 10 tight ends who saw 90 or more targets, but Kmet was also the least productive of those 10 tight ends. He averaged barely more than seven points.

Michael Fabiano is an award-winning fantasy football analyst on Sports Illustrated and a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association (FSWA) Hall of Fame. Click here to read all his articles here on SI Fantasy. You can follow Michael on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram for your late-breaking fantasy news and the best analysis in the business!

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Michael Fabiano
MICHAEL FABIANO

Michael Fabiano is a fantasy football analyst for Sports Illustrated. His weekly rankings and Start 'Em, Sit 'Em articles are must-reads for fantasy players. He is also the co-host of the Fantasy Dirt Podcast on SI. Before joining SI in August 2020, he worked for CBS Sports, NFL Network and SiriusXM. He also contributes to Westwood One Radio. Fabiano was the first fantasy analyst to appear on one of the four major TV networks and is a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association Hall of Fame.